Planar Touchstone: Useless?

[Rubik]

According to the Planar Touchstone feat, from the Planar Handbook, one of the prerequisites is an item worth 250 gp from one of the various planar touchstone sites situated about the multiverse. In order to use the feat, you must attune with the site using the item, which expends it. Since you no longer have the item, you lose the benefit of the feat, thereby making it pointless.

The only way I see out of it is by having two items and refusing to use one until you've got another one at some point.

Is there some other loophole I'm not seeing here which allows you to attune to a touchstone without losing the feat?

[torrasque666]

According to the Planar Touchstone feat, from the Planar Handbook, one of the prerequisites is an item worth 250 gp from one of the various planar touchstone sites situated about the multiverse. In order to use the feat, you must attune with the site using the item, which expends it. Since you no longer have the item, you lose the benefit of the feat, thereby making it pointless.

The only way I see out of it is by having two items and refusing to use one until you've got another one at some point.

Is there some other loophole I'm not seeing here which allows you to attune to a touchstone without losing the feat?

Gonna go with a case of "Specific vs General" for this one. The item is required to forge the link described in the feat, and the link is what provides the benefits described.

[Curmudgeon]

Gonna go with a case of "Specific vs General" for this one. The item is required to forge the link described in the feat, and the link is what provides the benefits described.
The link is required for the feat's benefit, but so is the appropriate item. You can't benefit from the feat with only partial prerequisites.

[Wolfofmibu66]

RAW translates down to : have the 250gp item in your possession, go to the site, spend the item, 10xp, and 24 hours to forge the link. Once the link is forged it's there forever, you gain that site's base ability and by fulfilling the high order condition, you gain the high order ability as listed. At any time thereafter you can visit any other planar touchstone and just swap em out by fulfilling the high order recharge condition. Nowhere in the feat's text does it say that you need to continue to have the item to gain the abilites.

[eggynack]

RAW translates down to : have the 250gp item in your possession, go to the site, spend the item, 10xp, and 24 hours to forge the link. Once the link is forged it's there forever, you gain that site's base ability and by fulfilling the high order condition, you gain the high order ability as listed. At any time thereafter you can visit any other planar touchstone and just swap em out by fulfilling the high order recharge condition.
Yeah, I'm inclined to think that, once you have the link, nothing you do is actually derived from the feat. It's all just proceeding based off of inertia.

[A_S]

Yeah, I'm inclined to think that, once you have the link, nothing you do is actually derived from the feat. It's all just proceeding based off of inertia.
This interpretation would have its own wonky consequences. Can you retrain of DCFS the feat away and retain the benefit?

[eggynack]

This interpretation would have its own wonky consequences. Can you retrain of DCFS the feat away and retain the benefit?
I guess, though that really seems more like DCFS wonk than planar touchstone wonk. DCFS just has wonky results like that, and they're all over the place.

[Bucky]

Is there some other loophole I'm not seeing here which allows you to attune to a touchstone without losing the feat?

This came up recently in another thread; one solution that came up was to acquire two 250gp items for the same touchstone, spend one on the ritual and use the other to still meet the prerequisite.

[Ruethgar]

After reading, the feat Wolf's analysis seems to be accurate by RAW. The feat allows you to link to a touchstone but once the link is forged you no longer need the feat unless you want to switch stones.

[Jowgen]

The Planar Touchstone feat is useless for a massively glaring reason that seems to not have been mentioned in this thread at all:

The Touchstone feat from Sandstorm.

It's better written and actually allows for the selection of both regular and Planar touchstones. There is barely a slimmer of reason to ever take the Planar version. Seriously.

[Rubik]

The Planar Touchstone feat is useless for a massively glaring reason that seems to not have been mentioned in this thread at all:

The Touchstone feat from Sandstorm.

It's better written and actually allows for the selection of both regular and Planar touchstones. There is barely a slimmer of reason to ever take the Planar version. Seriously.Except that planar touchstones aren't necessarily the same as regular touchstones, and there are some REALLY nice planar touchstones (my favorites being The Peak of Continuation, The Veil, and The Were Glade -- which is about the only way for non-Humanoids and non-Giants to gain lycanthropy).

Of course, you could get both, if you want.

[Jowgen]

Sandstorm p. 54


Certain places resonate with unique forms of energy. Those who take the Touchstone feat can forge a link with these special locales, thereby gaining a special ability. Actually visiting a touchstone site can provide even more potent abilities.
Those linked with one touchstone can also freely visit other touchstone sites, including planar touchstones (as described in the Planar Handbook).

[Rubik]

So, a Good or Neutral character with cleric levels with Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightenment (Necromancy Domain) can gain both turning AND rebuking. What does that do if he takes Extra Turning? +8 turn/rebuke attempts per feat! SWEET!


Sandstorm p. 54Nifty.